
If you are a fan of music biopics, like our new friends at @TheSoundMatrix, you know a Bob Dylan biopic was in the plans for Mr. Tambourine Man.
To make things even more interesting, future Kwisatz Haderach and star of the eagerly anticipated Dune, Timothee Chalamet was going to star as the folk hero and icon. Just look at them side-by-side.
Doppelgänger, much?
The movie, helmed by James Mangold, was destined to become an all-time great among musician biopics. And then, COVID-19 happened. Yeah, here we go again.
Bob Dylan Biopic: “Won’t Be Happening Anytime Soon.”

Source: Netflix/Sikelia Productions
From an interview with Collider, Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael shared during his interview about the Aaron Sorkin surefire Oscar contender The Trial of the Chicago 7, that the Bob Dylan biopic “won’t be happening anytime soon.”
“We were going to do Bob Dylan with Mangold that didn’t happen, with Timothée Chalamet, about going electric in the ’60s, and it would have been my third ’60s movie in a row…
I don’t think it’s dead, but it’s a tough one to pull off in a COVID-era because it’s all in small clubs with lots of extras in period costumes, so you’ve got lots of hair and makeup.”
Phedon Papamichael, Collider, October 2020
Damn you, Corona!
While waiting for the Bob Dylan biopic kick off will take even longer than you may think. Following his work with Mangold in 2019’s Ford v. Ferrari, the director/cinematographer duo are setting up work on Indiana Jones 5.
Meanwhile, the Oscar-nominated cinematographer (2013’s Nebraska) said about the actually seeing anything like a Bob Dylan biopic:
I hope to get people back in the theaters and get to do movies for a while longer for the big screen. I hope it doesn’t change our viewing cinema culture forever, this event
Phedon Papamichael, Collider, October 2020
So do we, brother. So do we.
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